Debutantes stole the show as the Cavalry continued its unbeaten run at the Kickoff.
Striker Ahinga Selemani tallied the brace in his first start with the Cavalry in a 4-1 victory over Atlético Ottawa and Tyson Farago earned the clean sheet in his debut between the posts in a scoreless draw with HFX Wanderers as the Canadian Premier League team improved to 2-1-0 through three games at the Kickoff in Winnipeg.
“It’s one of them, three games in six days and there’s going to be a little bit of fatigue on both sides,” Cavalry head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. told media following the draw with the Wanderers. “We’ve had an attack, they had an attack and it could have been 1-0 either way.
“You’ve got to pick up these points, keep banking them, move on and reflect on it. Other than that, it was decent, a good clean sheet and I would have liked us to be a little more creative in the attacking third, other than that I thought it was a solid performance.”
The Cavs edged HFX with 10 shots to the Wanderers’ 7 and held a slight advantage in possession at 53 per cent in the July 3 clash.
In goal, Farago picked up the clean sheet in his hometown in his first appearance for the Cavalry.
“We’ve got two good keepers,” the coach added. “Everyone knows Marco (Carducci) in the league, he’s a top keeper, but Tyson is a good keeper too. He showed his experience, coming up for a couple punches, a couple of catches and he’s earned that clean sheet and he’s deserving of it.
“It’s great because I think you need to have two good goalies to push the other one because you get better performances out of each other...”
A night of firsts on attack saw the Cavs dispatch Atlético Ottawa 4-1 in a smothering performance on June 30 with Selemani’s brace leading the effort.
“It means a lot personally,” said Selemani. “It brings confidence. We’ve been working a lot in preseason, we’re still trying to build our identity. It’s still early days. The season is long.”
Selemani , the 5-foot-7 speedster with an endless motor, opened the scoring just eight minutes into the contest, showcasing the team’s characteristic press to put pressure on Atlético goalkeeper Dylon Powley, picked off a clearance and fired the rebound into the goal.
The tally was a near carbon copy of teammate José Escalante’s marker in the season opening victory over York earlier in the week.
“You guys know Tommy, he’s going to make us press all day, all night. I mean I’m sleeping thinking about pressing,” Selemani said. “I was the one to get the goal today, José was the one to get it in that fashion the other day.”
Selemani doubled his output for the day with a left-footed volley inside the box in the 42nd minute.
In the second half, Victor Loturi netted his first goal in the CPL with a cool finish in tight on a set-up from fellow U SPORTS player Daniel Kaiser. Loturi’s brother William Akio, who played for Wheeldon Jr.’s Calgary Foothills squad, netted his first goal in the CPL earlier in the day for Valour FC.
“Those guys had a tough year for some personal reasons and they’ve just continued on with their game,” said Wheeldon Jr. “In the locker-room before the game because I had seen the result I said to Victor ‘your brother has popped one, how’s about you make it a special night for your family? And he did.
“It’s just goosebumps because he’s a kid I knew through Calgary Foothills, Calgary Northside, he’s a local lad, he’s a terrific footballer. He’s still got a lot to learn, a lot to go, but he’s given himself a good starting point.”
Elliot Simmons rounded out the scoring after strong hold up play from targetman Anthony Novak teed up the low right-footed strike from the midfielder in the 78th minute.
The Cavalry’s depth has been a hallmark of the early action with 17 players suiting up through three games as the team bolstered its midfield, forward and winger options considerably in the off-season.
It’s given Wheeldon Jr. the opportunity to experiment with lineups to suit different tactical needs.
“None of us have had any preseason so these are the games what it’s like when we’re in control of the ball, what it’s like when other teams mix it up a bit,” Wheeldon Jr. added. “So we’re getting some really good answers and we’ve now got a few days extra to recover, reflect and look at how we face Forge on Thursday.”
Matchday four tees up a rematch of the 2019 league finals when the Cavs and two-time defending league champion Forge FC square off on July 8 for the first time this season. The Cavalry then battle Ottawa on July 11 with a total of five games left in its Kickoff schedule in Winnipeg.
For more information go to cavalryfc.canpl.ca.
